


The Fading Star, the Broken Pine, and the Working Portal

by VenomQuill



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Dipper hasn't eaten but his shirt in days, Gen, Mabel's lived a hard life, Relativity Falls, Smile always, Smile never
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-02
Updated: 2017-07-02
Packaged: 2018-11-22 14:17:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11381919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VenomQuill/pseuds/VenomQuill
Summary: Dipper and Mabel in Relativity Falls, where Mabel was pushed out at seventeen and Dipper went crazy from insomnia.Dipper's tough as a cinder-block and doesn't let himself feel too much in the way of emotions. Those he does feel, he keeps concealed. Despite being in a "friendly" environment, he spent 30 odd years in places where people would take advantage of any and every change in emotion-everyone including Bill.Mabel's free as peacock. She has a beautiful personality, a free spirit, but is weighed down by the very thing that makes her special. She's pretty motherly and adores the twins, Fiddleford, and even the begrudging Dan. She might hide some emotions, but she thinks with her heart before she thinks with her head.EDIT: It's on Deviant Art, now: http://fav.me/dbf3t6a





	The Fading Star, the Broken Pine, and the Working Portal

Mabel took a deep breath. She sat in the front seat of her own car. The heater blazed, spreading warmth to her and the rest of the car. She gripped the steering wheel so tightly that her knuckles turned white, even when the car was parked. She gently removed one shaky hand and used it to turn off the car. “Okay, calm down, Mabel. It’s only been ten years since you’ve seen your brother. It’s fine. Everything’s fine. Everything’s fine. Just go up to the door, knock, and say hi. You’re good at saying hi.” She shut her eyes and took another deep breath to ward away the inevitable tears. “He won’t bite. He won’t bite. He’s your brother. Doesn’t matter if he didn’t call you in ten years. He probably doesn’t know your phone number even though he knew your address. Just let go of the steering wheel and knock on the door.”

Mabel let go of the steering wheel and got out. She found herself shivering even before the mid-winter Oregon cold slapped her in the face. As she walked, she looked about. Satellites were set up around the yard. A very tall, barb-wire fence surrounded the lot. She’d never known Dipper to be so paranoid. Why would he need such a tall fence? Were there things out in the forest?

Mabel stopped herself before she ran into the door. She forced herself to raise her hand, now closed in a fist, and knocked. There was a scramble inside like she’d just woken a particularly jumpy guard dog who couldn’t bark. The door swung open and she felt a poke at her neck. “WHO ARE YOU?! WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH ME?! ARE YOU HERE TO STEAL MY EYES?!” a shrill, cracking voice demanded. The man before her stared at her with wild eyes. His twitching lips were bared in a crazed snarl. She was surprised he wasn’t foaming at the mouth. His frayed, greasy hair stuck to his head as it was flattened under a torn blue-and-white hat bearing a pine tree symbol.

Mabel looked down at the crossbow that was pointed at her neck and then back up at him. At first, she was speechless. “D-Dipper?”

The man stopped breathing for a moment. “Mabel?”

Mabel nodded. “Y-yeah. It’s me. Your sister. Who isn’t coming for your eyes or whatever.”

Dipper lowered the crossbow. “Mabel, did anyone follow you? Anyone at all?”

“N-no. No. No one even knows I’m here,” Mabel admitted.

Within a second, he cast the weapon aside, took Mabel by the shoulders and tore her inside. The door slammed and locked behind her. Mabel resisted punching him in the nose like the last man who’d grabbed her like that. Still, it took a lot of willpower as she felt his hand, rough and twisted, attempt to cut off circulation in her left shoulder as he pointed a flashlight in each of her eyes. Finally, she managed to squirm out of his grip and took a few steps back. “Wh-whoa! Dipper, what’s that all about?”

“I’m sorry,” he wheezed. Did it really only that amount of action to wind him? “I just… I had to make sure you weren’t- it doesn’t matter. Come in, come in.” He turned and darted further into the house.

Mabel ran after him. “Slow down, Dipper! What’s going on?” She looked about at the gadgets and machines and little knickknacks that buzzed and whirred and clicked away, even as they were left alone. The place was so crowded. How did anyone live here? Her gaze fell down as she inspected him. Gaunt and wiry, Dipper’s once robust, if gangly, body had been reduced to twigs as it became very apparent he starved himself. The massive bags under his eyes and the stutter gave off the haunting vibe that he’d been depriving himself of sleep as well. What was this man who’d summoned her? “God, Dipper, your starving! You can’t be that bad of a cook.” Her feeble attempt a joke did not sit well with Dipper.

“Listen, there isn’t much time. I’ve made some grave mistakes. I need to fix them. I don’t know if there’s anyone in the world I can trust- anyone but you.” Those last words seemed to choke him.

“Slow down, Dipper,” Mabel instructed and held her hands out in front of her in a passive stance. “Let’s talk this through, okay? What happened to you? Have you even been eating? Why are you so prickly? Who’s out to get you?”

“There’s no time for that, Mabel. He’s coming and- I need to show you something. Something that you won’t understand or believe.”

“Dippy-dog, I’ve watched every sci-fi ever _and_ grew up with you. Whatever it is, I’ll totally understand.” Mabel waved her hand.

 

“Wha- okay, I’m pretty sure I understand _part_ of it.” Hardly a minute later, they stood in a freaky, futuristic lab. A giant metal triangle with a hole in the center surrounded by runes faced them.

Dipper bit his lip and tangled and untangled his fingers together. “It’s a trans-universal gateway. This thing was supposed to punch a hole through a weak spot in our universe and unlock the mysteries of the universe.” Mabel watched him speak. Were it not for his crazed stance and twitchy eyes, she could be convinced they were back in the science lab at the age of fifteen, Mabel holding the camera and Dipper going off on yet another mystery. “But I was wrong. This universal portal is doomed to universal destruction.” He brought out a blueish leather bound book. Dipper’s favorite symbol, the silhouette of a pine tree, had been cut from a silver sheet and glued to the front. “I’ve created a trilogy of journals cataloguing my findings. But I made a mistake. Together, they explain how to operate the portal. I’ve hidden the last two. There’s only one journal left.” He stopped his twitching and turned to Mabel. “I can only trust it to you.” He held out the book. Mabel could feel his fingers trembling as she took it from him. The silver pine tree glinted in the light. A large number one crossed through the center of the tree. “Mabel? Do you remember our plans, when we were kids, to go driving across the country?”

Mabel’s eyes snapped up to meet Dipper’s. Her chest constricted and she could hardly keep herself from doing anything but grinning stupidly. _Yes. When we were kids that’s all we wanted to do. Ten years and he’s finally-_

“I need you to take that book, get in a car, and drive to the far reaches of the country- the world, even. Bury that book in a place where no one can find it.”

Mabel’s smile fell in an instant. Dipper, either oblivious or uncaring to her change in mood, turned around to face the portal. _“What?”_ she asked in hardly a breath. The salty taste of a tear, rebelling against her struggle to stay face, touched her lip. “After all these years, after all this silence, you summon me from across the country to tell me to get away from you?” Her hurt whimper turned into a loud hiss as she translated her hurt into an emotion that was easier to deal with.

Dipper spun around and wobbled on his feet. “Mabel! You have no clue what I’m up against, what I’ve been through!”

“What _you’ve_ been through?” Mabel asked and laughed. It was hollow and without humor. “What _you’ve_ been through?! No. No, you don’t understand what I’ve been through. When Mom and Dad threw me out–which, let me remind you, you didn’t try and stop–I had to live on my own as a _minor!_ A _minor_ , Dipper!”

“Yeah? And _you_ ruined my chance at the apprenticeship and college of a _lifetime!_ ”

“You still got to go to college, didn’t you? You still got honor’s role and got all popular and got everything you wanted!” she snapped back. “But then there’s Mabel whose been chased out of more states than I care to count and who’s been constantly denied jobs because _I’m a girl!_ If it wasn’t for the fact that no one would suspect a girl who wears glitter to be such a good thief, I’d have starved!” Mabel was shaking now. “When I finally do get a home, you expected me to drop everything to come to help you! What’s worse is that you’re _right!_ I would and I did and I lost everything because of it! You took everything from me!”

“I took everything from you?” Dipper echoed. “No. No, I’m not the taker, here. Mabel, I’m giving you the chance to do the one worthwhile thing in your life and you won’t even listen to me!”

Mabel stared at him. He may as well have just stabbed her with a fireplace poker. “Well then, fine! Listen to this, _Mason:_ You want me to get rid of this journal? Fine!” She swiped a glittery kitten lighter from her coat and held it under the journal. “I’ll get rid of it.”

“NO!” Dipper shrieked and tore the journal away from her. “You don’t understand!”

Mabel grabbed it again. “You said you wanted me to have it, so I’ll do what I want with it!” Shaking, she held up the lighter again.

Dipper tackled her. For a man who’d gone without eating and sleeping and probably other vital necessities for a long time, the force put behind him was enough to knock her off her feet and send them both tumbling to the hard cement ground. The lighter and journal slid across the floor. Dipper scrambled to his feet and dove toward the book. Mabel grabbed him by the ankle and pulled back. He landed on his face, just inches from the journal. Mabel snatched it and spun around to face him. Dipper shoved her through the door and into a control panel. Something buzzed and sputtered to life. Neither of them noticed or cared as they continued their fight.

“You left me behind!” Mabel spat and shoved him away. “It was supposed to be us and you _left me behind!_ ”

Dipper grabbed the journal and attempted to tug it free. “Stop being such a _child_ Mabel! You’re the one who refused to grow up!” Mabel nearly tore the journal out of his grasp. Dipper set a foot on her chest and kicked her. Mabel shrieked as a brand seared through her coat, sweater, undershirt, and finally burned into her skin. Her hands opened, letting go of the journal, as the searing agony of the brand and the God-awful stench of burning human flesh overloaded her mind.

Dipper, his shaking hands still grasping the journal like a lifeline, looked down at her with wide eyes. “Oh my- Mabel, I’m so sorry! Are–”

Mabel, eyes blurred by tears, struck at the thing closest to her. Dipper stumbled back, a hand over his nose as the palm of her hand busted into it, and dropped the journal. He tripped over a lever and scrambled to his feet. She hopped to her feet and stalked after him, one hand on her shoulder and the other gripping the fallen journal. Her eyes glowed in the light given off by the activated portal. “All these years wishing on my lucky stars to see you… for _this._ Well, fine! If you care about your mysteries more than your own _family_ you can keep them!” She shoved the journal into his chest. Dipper let out a wheeze as the action pushed down on his chest and sent him back.

Dipper floated and began to drift toward the wildly sputtering and hissing and sparking portal behind him. “Oh, no. Oh, no! Mabel! Mabel help me!” He struggled in the air as if trying to run or swim or do anything to find his way back to the ground.

Mabel’s fury vanished in an instant. “D-Dipper! What do I do? What do I do?!”

“Mable! Mabel, do something! Anything! MABEL!” Dipper threw the journal as he was sucked in, jacket first, into the frothing portal. Everything went white. Then, it dimmed.

 

Mabel got to her feet, growling and wincing in pain as the fried nerves on her left shoulder blade hadn’t yet calmed down. She looked up at the dead portal and jumped to her feet. “Mason! Mason, come back! I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it!” She raced forward and set her hands on the slick metal of the portal. It felt deceptively cool despite the electricity that had been buzzing through it moments ago. The runes lost their glow.

Mabel looked at the journal on the ground near her. She rushed over to it and plucked it off the ground. She flipped through the pages, her eyes skimming over pictures, words, and weird symbols. At the very end, a piece of paper had been plastered to the inside of the back cover. _“Continued in Journal #2”_ Her body convulsed in violent sobs. “N-no! I j-just got you back! I can’t lose you again! Dipper! There has to be something here. _Anything!”_

\--

Mabel and Dipper stared at their reflections- or, rather, each other’s reflections. Dipper was noticeably different. Gone was the straggly, sleep deprived, malnourished man Mabel had seen last. He was fuller and stockier. He hadn’t grown much taller, but his muscles did seem to have grown tighter and thicker. It was hard to tell under the black, battle garb he wore, though. Mabel’s gaze traveled to his navy-blue trench coat. It was torn and there were patches that needed stitching, but it was otherwise the same trench coat he’d worn when he was thrown into the portal- all the way down to the silver pine tree stitched on one shoulder.

Mabel didn’t look all too different, save for the lines of age and laughter etched into her skin. Her pink sweater with an elaborate gold key had the Mabel flare. Her long purple shirt and neat black shoes and pink headband were all the same. Even now, thirty years after their separation and thirty years of worry, she still had that wonder-filled, joyous spark laced with mischief in her deep brown eyes.

Dipper sighed and turned to Mabel. “Okay, Mabel, here’s the deal: I’ll let you stay here to watch the boys for the rest of the summer. I’ll stay in the basement and try and contain any remaining damage. But,” Dipper’s voice became quick to make sure Mabel knew the deal’s hitch. “Once this summer’s over, you give me my house back, my identity back, and all this Mystery Shack junk is _over._ Got it?”

“You really aren’t going to thank me, Mason?” Mabel asked. Dipper didn’t waver in emotion, even as she used his actual name. Mabel’s voice turned cold. “Fine. But on one condition: you stay away from Lee and Ford. I don’t want them in any danger, you hear? As far as I’m concerned, they’re the only family I have left.” With that, Mabel turned and stalked off. She set one foot on the stairs and chanced a glance backward. Dipper was not looking at her. She let out a small, inaudible sigh and kept walking.

**Author's Note:**

> In this version, Mabel was pushed out at seventeen and became a tailor. Dipper becomes a Bill worshiper and goes half crazy.
> 
> I, for some sadistic reason, like writing about "Tough" Dipper who refuses to be called anything but Mason and locks himself away from human contact of any sort. Almost like a cross between Ford, Filbrick, and his own charm. Instead of calling Mabel selfish like Ford does to Stanley, he calls her childish and unwilling to grow up.  
> Oh, and D&D&D is still his favorite game in the multiverse. The first time anyone's seem him smile (on Earth) for thirty odd years is when he played that game with Stanford and Fiddleford. Fiddleford and Stanford's relationship (as scientific partners, monster hunters, and best friends) is both amusing to Dipper and heartbreaking as it's a reminder of his relationship with Candy. Though they only danced around each other a few months before Candy got over him, they were great scientific partners.


End file.
